


First date

by WizzyGold



Series: Meeting your future [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Rumbelle is Hope, hints of swanfire, prompt, they meet in tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-23
Updated: 2016-06-23
Packaged: 2018-07-16 19:56:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7282519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WizzyGold/pseuds/WizzyGold
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt by @mariequitecontrarie  Belle and Robert's first date is a tour of his hometown.</p><p>Part of the Meeting your future verse (they meet in Tumblr!) It picks up about a week after Robert and Belle's first meeting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	First date

 

It had been difficult to part ways. Neither wanted to say goodbye and they talked until the sun went down. They shared a few chaste kisses during their talks and held hands when Robert wasn’t telling her a story about his mates from Scotland, when he was a lad, or about his son.

 

When he talked he told the story using his whole body, hands moving, a tilt of the head, an expressive facial expression, it captivated you and helped you picture the story so vividly that you felt as if you were living the moment with him. 

 

Robert would be excellent at story hour with the children. 

 

When she told him this he became an adorable flushing mess and somehow he was going to participate in her next storytelling hour at the library after their first “proper” date next week where he was going to show her his town. 

 

Now, one week later, Belle was fixing her makeup and checking her dress, overthinking her choice of a soft yellow summer dress that reached her knees and blood-red flats to match. She had thought about heels, but she liked looking up at Robert, and since she was probably going to be walking quite a lot today, she didn’t want to risk her feet hurting at the end of the day.

 

Robert had offered to pick her up in the morning, but Sunday’s were his special breakfast time with Neal, and she didn’t want to intrude on that. So, she would take the bus and meet him at the bus stop. 

 

He was waiting for her next to a huge classic black Cadillac, a take-out coffee cup in hand, and a shy smile was adorning his handsome face when she got off. He greeted her with a small ‘hello’ and a quick peck on the lips, handing her the cup. 

 

They got to the car, and she tasted her drink, she wasn’t that much of a fan of coffee, but Belle wouldn’t be so rude as to complain when he had been so thoughtful, but when the liquid reached her tongue she closed her eyes in bliss; It was tea. Her favourite, in fact. Something she had told him months ago when she was ranting about an awful day at the library that had only gotten worse when the grocery store had run out of her blend and she had none left at home. She stopped him from turning on the car with a hand on his arm, placing the cup carefully on the holder so it wouldn’t spill. Without a chance to second guess herself she grabbed him by the neck and kissed him. A proper kiss that, hopefully, would convey how marvellous she thought he was. 

 

When they pulled apart, he had a silly smile on his face and his eyes were a bit glassed.

 

“What was that for?” he asked. 

 

“You remembered I prefer tea over coffee and even my tea blend... You're incredible!” She answered, taking the cup again and drinking from it with a satisfied smile on her face. 

 

He fumbled with the keys, his face flushing while he mumbled a shy “‘Tis no matter” before starting the car and driving off the station. 

 

It took a few tries, but his brain cells finally began to function, and he asked her about her trip and her week, even though they had been chatting and talking on the phone most of the days they had been apart. 

 

Belle asked about his son, and after assuring her he was alright, she asked him if Neal would be joining them during the day, but his boy already had plans with his friends all day. 

 

They would probably meet next time she was in town. 

 

Old Brooke was a cute little town, a bit smaller than hers, with one main street, one school, one diner, bar, flower shop, pharmacy, coffee shop and a closed library. Robert indicated each of the stores as they passed, promising to tell her more about them when they took their walk a bit later, but first, he wanted to leave his car at his house and let her rest for a while. She told him it wasn’t necessary, that an hour on bus barely required any rest, but he was having none of it, so with an affectionate roll of her eyes she accepted defeat. She was curious about his home regardless. 

 

She wasn't sure what to expect, probably a fancy and sober house, with maybe a bit of colour but mostly a neutral cream or even pale grey. A Pink mansion was not what she had imagined. At all.

 

“It’s salmon.” He told her with a bit defensively before she could even open her mouth although his smirk betrayed any real annoyance.

 

“If you say so, Rum…” 

 

He sighed but extended his hand shyly, looking at her through the curtain of his hair. She was happy to take it, feeling his warm and soft skin against hers, filling her with pure and utter happiness. 

 

The interior of his home was very much Robert though, the décor was elegant, with wine-red walls, trinkets that looked extremely expensive pretty much everywhere and pictures of Neal adorning most walls. It felt very homey. 

 

Robert led her to the living room after placing her bag in the cloak closet, telling her to sit down while he prepared some tea for the both of them. The living room had a big sofa, where she was sitting at the moment, a small table in front of it, a fireplace and a big flat screen TV above it. There were also a couple of loveseats on each side of the table, and a bookshelf at the far end, filled with mostly books on law and a couple of photo albums. 

 

She felt at peace here. 

 

Belle tried not to think about that too much and was glad when she heard Robert arrive with a tray in hand, filled with tea and a plate of cookies. He sat next to her and began to prepare her cup, telling her to relax, she was his guest and would treat her as such. 

 

“You didn’t have to bother this much, you know” she commented, taking the cup with a nod of thanks. 

 

“It’s no bother, I kind of like it.” He said as he prepared his cup. 

 

“You’re too sweet.” She grinned as he got flustered but decided to change the subject. “I really dolike your home, even if it’s pink.” She finished with a smile, trying to convey she was joking.

 

“The house came with the colour, and I wasn’t about to change it, but thank you, I’m quite fond of the place myself.”

 

She nodded, taking a bit of a chocolate chip cookie. “These are great, did you make them?”

 

“Neal did, as a matter of fact. When he is not drawing something, he is trying recipes. I don’t know where that gene came from; it certainly wasn’t from me.”

 

“Tell him he is an excellent chef. So, you don’t cook?”

 

“I do, just, when I have to and pretty basic meals, at that. How about you?”

 

“I can make rice and probably fry something without burning it, other than that.” She shrugged. “I can’t do much.”

 

“Well, at least we won’t starve.” He froze, staring at her like a deer caught in the headlights. It had been a slip of the tongue, really, he knew it was too early to think about a future where making meals was part of their routine, but he couldn’t imagine a future where that didn’t happen, and his mouth had betrayed him. Before he could make apologies and probably drive Belle even further away, she smiled; a kind, loving smile he had not seen before and blushed (blushed!) before looking at her hands, playing with her cup. 

 

“I guess we won’t.” She responded softly, looking at him through her lashes. He cleared his throat once, twice, three times before he could answer.

 

“I…so, uh, rice? Have you tried, uh, sushi?” Was that too pompous? Sushi was very typical, right? And it was very popular nowadays, at least according to Neal. 

 

“Once, with Ariel, but she wasn’t that fond of seafood, so we made them with fruit. It was a great dessert.” 

 

“With fruit? Sounds tasty. We could try making it sometime. With, seafood, I mean. Or, fruit, whichever you prefer.” He was rambling, what was wrong with him?

 

Belle chuckled softly. “I would love that, Robert.” 

 

He nodded, still too flustered to make his brain cells function properly together. They finished their tea and cookies, Belle telling him about a book she had been reading the day before. It wasn’t long before they ended and Robert offered to give her a proper tour of the town. 

 

They walked out of the house and, in an act of bravery; he offered his arm to her. She took with a smile, tucking her hand on the crook of his elbow, the contact making him grin, even going as far as nodding to the Sheriff, who was walking with his wife and child.

 

“That’s Sheriff Nolan and his wife, Mary Margaret; the little one is their youngest, Daniel. Ms Nolan teaches first grade at the school and their eldest, Emma, is Neal’s best friend.” He explained.

 

“They look like a lovely family, but they were giving you some odd stares.”

 

Crap. 

 

“Yes, well, they are not used to seeing me with, uh- “

 

“Your girlfriend?”

 

He nodded, blushing. “Or anyone, to be honest,” He finished, looking rather uncomfortable. Belle knew he didn’t have many friends, that he was a loner, like her, but she sensed there was something he wasn’t telling her. He would, in his own time. 

 

“Well, I guess they’ll get used to me eventually.” 

 

He smiled at her gratefully and gave her a quick peck on the lips, returning to telling her about his town. 

 

Belle found that she liked Old Brooke, it was a bit smaller than Storybrooke but had a charm that was unique to small towns. The only thing that was giving her a weird feeling was some of the people. They seemed friendly enough, maybe a little suspicious of her, but she was from a small town, and even in Australia her city hadn’t been that big so she understood being wary of strangers, even if she felt it wasn’t her they were looking at. When the old lady that Robert referred to as Mrs Lucas but told her that everyone called her Granny dropped his plate on the table but smiled to Belle, she knew something was going on. The fact that Robert had just sighed and opened his burger to drop some ketchup on it told her a lot. He was used to this treatment. 

They ate, Belle asking a few questions about the various shops they had seen in the morning and trying not to look at some of the patrons that were giving him an odd stare. When they almost finished, she couldn’t take it anymore; she had to know. 

 

“Robert?”

 

“Yes, dear?”

 

“Why are people acting so strange around you?”

 

“Strange?” He asked as he poured a healthy dose of mustard on the rest of his burger. 

 

“They look at you as if you kidnapped me, and the lady dropped your plate like you had kicked her dog or something.” 

 

He looked a bit startled, but his eyes were regretful. He looked around and found that no one was paying them much attention anymore, so he leant closer to Belle, indicating with his hand to come closer as well. 

 

“Remember I told you I had some real state besides my shop?”

 

“Yes, you said it was your primary income, the shop was more of a hobby.”

 

“Yes, well, I might not have mentioned just how much of the town I own.”

 

“Ok, how much?”

 

“Roughly 50%.”

 

“Wait, 50%!?” She exclaimed while trying to keep her voice down. 

 

“Yeah, and you know how precise I am with things. I always keep my end of the deal, and I expect other to do the same. So, I’m very strict with my tenants.”

 

“Oh.” She leant back, biting her lower lip, thinking for a moment. “That’s it?”

 

“What do you mean?” He asked, honestly confused. 

 

“You expect payment from your tenants at the right time, right?”

 

“Of course, if they can’t pay I evict them to a smaller property, so I’m known as the town's monster, hence the looks.”

 

“Hmm. Let me ask you this, why do you move them to another property?”

 

“If they can’t afford the one they chose for whatever reason that it’s stated in the contract, they have to relocate. I can’t exactly ask them to give me their life’s savings or request a loan because they can’t manage their money." He explains with a bit of exasperation in his voice. 

 

“But if it’s in the contract and they don’t agree with it, why do they sign it?”

 

“Most people here don’t read it.”

 

“They…what?” She asks, baffled.

 

“They skim it, just wanting to get it over with, but they don’t read the fine print. Not all of them, of course, but enough to have created a reputation when I started to buy the buildings.”

 

“That’s…I’m sorry, but that’s stupid. If everything stated is in the contract, no matter how strict, and they signed it, they should follow it.”

 

“People here wouldn’t agree.”

 

“Come on.” She states as she gets up, opening her purse to take out a few bills, but he beat her to it, dropping a 20 and saying that he was paying for their date today. She nodded and took his hand. He followed like a puppy, still confused by the abrupt change. 

 

“Where are we going?” He asked when they were outside the diner.

 

“Your place, or maybe a park, there is one in this town right?”

 

“Yes, two, actually, but why?”

 

“I didn’t want to be surrounded by those people. They treat you like crap because they don’t bother reading a contract; It’s insane.”

 

“I’m not exactly a likeable person, Belle, not here. They have reasons to hate me; I’m not nice to them.”

 

“Well, why not?” she asked, still walking towards the general direction of his house. She knew she was prying, but she couldn’t understand the people here. 

 

“They are my tenants, if I’m nice they think they can ask favours or reduce their fees.” The way he said it gave her pause, he talked as if he knew from experience. She stopped walking, facing him. They were near an old building in the middle of town, under a clock tower. “I’m sorry you feel like you can’t be yourself around these people.”

 

“It-it’s not like I want to befriend them.” He said nervously, taking her hands in his, a small, shy smile forming on his face. “I’ve been fine on my own, and I have Neal and you now. I don’t need more.”

 

The smile she gave him was probably bright enough to light a whole city, Robert responded in kind. Before he could continue, her hands went around his neck, fingers caressing his locks before dragging his face to hers, giving him a proper kiss, making the pawnbroker stop his train of thought completely and to grab her waist tightly, pulling her impossibly closer to him, until they were pressed together, his hands caressing her back and waist as hers grabbed his back with such need that left his head reeling. When her tongue asked for permission Robert opened to her immediately, seeing stars when he felt her tongue in his mouth, his battling hers for a taste. She tasted divine, and he wanted nothing else than to stay here, at this moment, forever. 

They separated when the air became an issue, lightly kissing while breathing heavily, not ready to let go of each other. Pressing their foreheads together they smiled, slowly, a silly, euphoric grin taking over them both before they laughed softly. 

 

“I could get used to this,” he said after a while. 

 

“When you say things like that, it’s hard not to, uh – “

 

“Pounce?” he interrupted with a little mocking grin. The bastard. 

 

“Yeah,” she laughed, “I guess that’s an accurate description.”

 

“I'm only honest.”

 

She was ready to give him another wonderful kiss when her phone started to ring, making them both jump apart and Belle fumbling to grab her purse and look frantically for her phone, shooting an apologetic look at Robert, her face reddening in embarrassment. When she finally found it she groaned. “Hi Dad!” she greeted with too much glee to be considered normal, wincing when she only managed to worry her father. 

 

“Yes, dad, I’m ok. No, I’m with – yes, we just had lunch. He is showing me around, yes. It is a lovely town. Dad. Dad, yes. Exactly. I’ll call you when I get home. Yes, thank you, Dad. Bye now.” She ended the call, groaning while she dropped her head on his chest, making him chuckle. 

“I’m guessing that was your father?” he asked with mirth.

“What gave it away?” she asked dryly. “Sorry, he just worries, and I wasn’t answering his texts.”

 

“Don’t worry; I would probably be the same with Neal. Do you want to go to the park? We have ducks.”

 

She grinned. 

 

The rest of the day was spent in the park. He bought them ice cream while they talked, kissed and spent the best afternoon Belle have had in a long, long time.  She missed the bus back home, but Robert offered to drive her, insisting that Neal wouldn't mind having more time apart from his father, especially since he was probably spending the day with the Sheriff's daughter, Emma. 

 

Belle agreed, secretly happy to be able to spend more time with the man she was pretty sure she loved. 

 

The drive wasn't a long one, the Cadillac going faster than the bus, and they were at the parking space of the library just before nine at night. 

 

"I had a great time today, Rumple." 

 

He grinned, loving that after all this time and knowing each other in person, she would still slip up and call him by his username. It was a nice reminder of how they had met.  

 

"Me too, Belle."

 

"So, do you think you can swing by next week? for Children's reading time and maybe dinner?"

 

"You were serious about me reading to the kids?"

 

"Yeah, you would be great."

 

"You really think so." He said, looking at his hands for a moment before looking at her with those soulful brown eyes of his. He looked at her like she was something out of this world, with a warmth she couldn't place. "I'll be here. Thank you, Belle."

 

She smiled, giving him a lingering kiss. "Let me know when you get home." 

 

"I will." 

 

They said their goodbyes and he drove off when she got inside her little apartment above the library. 

 

After getting home and sending Belle a quick text letting her know he was safe and sound, he had dinner with Neal, teasing him about his day with Emma (he stopped when his son began to tease him about Belle). He went to his bedroom, got ready for bed and finally laid down. He opened Tumblr out of habit, even if he didn't post anything much besides his stories, and stumbled upon a post from Belle's user 'DarkBeauty_212'. It was a compilation of pictures of her ship, Rumplestiltskin and the Dark Beauty, casually kissing, taking a walk, being domestic (the very few scenes they had together before the producers decided to add unnecessary drama to the pair). He didn't think much of it, but something in her tags caught his eye, they read #when fiction emulates real life #today was spectacular #I'm falling way too deep #Rumple x Dark Beauty #OTP

 

He went to sleep with a smile on his face. Good thing he wasn't the only one falling way too deep. Even if he suspected, he had already fallen ages ago. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thoughts?   
> This verse and all my others are opened for prompts! send me an ask on Tumblr (wizzygold)
> 
> Thanks to my lovely beta @danishnerdess


End file.
